A place for loving, discussing, and reading too much into animation from around the world.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Is Cartoon Network Making a Comeback?

Sorry for going so long without posting. I'm going to make a real push to get back on the wagon with writing.

Today I'm wondering aloud... is Cartoon Network starting to recover some of its glory? I mean, yes, they are continuing to show loads of live action crap like the Scooby-Doo movies, Destroy Build Destroy, and Hole in the Wall. And of course they still have their share of bad cartoons, like the utterly godawful Mad, as well as shows that I just plain have no desire to try, like the umpteenth Ben 10 iteration or Generator Rex.

But... Regular Show is hysterically funny. Scooby-Doo: Mystery, Inc. is astonishingly entertaining. Young Justice is roughly on par with the lesser entries in the DCAU, which is to say it's quite good. Sym-Bionic Titan is excellent, by turns funny, exciting, dramatic, even occasionally a little scary or sexy. And of course Adventure Time! is the best damn thing in years.

Simply put, right now, Cartoon Network has more good stuff in a typical week than any time since the early 2000s. It's too soon to call this a comeback--most of the shows I mention have yet to reach 20 episodes--but it's legitimate grounds for hope.